The Sentinel ConstellationThe Sentinel satellite program was designed to replace the older Earth observation missions, which have reached retirement or are nearing the end of their operational life span. The satellite array will ensure a continuity of data, so that there are no gaps in ongoing studies. Continue reading Sentinel Is Watching
Arecibo – What a Dish!The Arecibo observatory is a very large radio telescope located in Puerto Rico. In 1974, astronomers used it to broadcast a message into outer space intended to demonstrate human intelligence. Why are we so interested in finding intelligence in the stars, and yet so deaf to the many species who manifest it here on Earth?
Continue reading Arecibo and the Great Silence – Where We Talk About a Parrot Named Alex
Big Data is the new Big BrotherThe emergence of Big Data has meant that everything we do online leaves digital traces. “Big data” is fairly new. It’s huge and it’s scary – very scary. This revolutionary approach to data-driven communications is said to have played an integral part in Brexit “Leave” campaign and U.S. president Donald Trump’s extraordinary win. Continue reading Psychometrics and “Big Data” – Who Do They Think You Are?
The Real X-FilesAs the X-Files series enjoy a revival on TV, the American spy agency has decided to place thousands of declassified documents detailing government research into UFOs on its website. The CIA documents also confirm the reality of humans with ‘Special Abilities’ able to do seemingly impossible things. Continue reading CIA Releases “X-Files”
Disclaimer…You. Yes, YOU! You’re rather bright, aren’t you? Intelligent, smart. Let’s face it a little-known genius! And you have a unique opinion on just about everything. Not specifically one subject. Because you’re a contrarian. or as I like to call it: a “brainiac”. Continue reading Ode to the Contrarian or Why Intelligence May Not Be the Best Strategy in Life
What is Spice?Synthetic cannabinoids were designed for recreational use. Many used them legally in an attempt to recreate the effects of organic cannabis, or to achieve similar psychoactive effects, until they were banned in May 2016. But they promised more than they delivered. Spice is one of them. Continue reading Spice of Life? The Health Cost of Synthetic Cannabinoids and the Adverse Effects of Full Agonists
Home WorldWe start the new year with this photograph of the Earth and its Moon, taken from Mars. Continue reading The Earth, as Seen from Mars
You Spin Me Right Round…Just over a century ago, Einstein proposed the existence of waves in the spacetime continuum – the logical deduction from his Theory of General Relativity. In February 2016, scientists finally announced the detection of those “ripples” in gravity, using the technique of laser interferometry. Continue reading 2016: Another Year in Cutting Edge Science
Pollution CityTemperature inversions are meteorological phenomena which can occur over busy cities under particular environmental conditions. Retired jet engines could be used as “virtual chimneys”, and draw upwards the resulting smog that clouds the air over some of the World’s most polluted cities. Continue reading Temperature Inversions, City Pollution and Defunct Jet Engines
Meat and Potato Pie in the SkyA meat and potato pie has been attached to a weather balloon, and sent “into space”… Continue reading Pie in the Sky
Fog HarvestersMany places in the World have limited sources of drinkable water, whether it is because of limited rainfall or because of polluted water resources. Without sufficient potable water, the health of possibly billions of people remains at risk. In Lima, Perú, a simple technology helps people harvest water from the fog. Continue reading The Fog Harvesters of Lima, Peru
About SarinSarin is a deadly compound. Colourless, odourless, and fatal even at low concentrations. A new drug designed to fight against the deadly effects of organophosphorous nerve agents, like sarin, is in sight. Continue reading Compound Interest: An Antidote to Sarin
Improving on Nature’s PhotosynthesisAgronomic engineers have managed to improve upon one the most important biological process on the planet – photosynthesis. The increased yield in crop could be as much as 15%. Continue reading Feeding of the Nine Billion – The Future of Photosynthesis and Increased Crop Productivity
Visualizing Dynamic EarthWe live on the ever-changing planetary surface of Earth. Now, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s “Eruptions, Earthquakes, & Emissions” (“E3”) web application reveals a time-lapse animation of the data held on volcanic eruptions and quakes on Earth since 1960. The dynamic Earth at one glance!
Continue reading Fifty Years of Turmoil in One Minute – The Recent Living Respiring Dynamic Earth
What lies 5,000 metres below the sea?It’s cold down there. Icy cold. It’s dark. Pitch black, in fact. And the crushing pressures make the deepest parts of the oceans into some of the most hostile places on our planet. Continue reading Sailing the Lower Midnight… – The Uncharted Frontier of Modern Deep Sea Exploration
What is Wind?It comes at you as a breeze. As a gust. As a gale. Or in the scariest of situations as a hurricane or a tornado with wind speeds of up to 400 kilometres an hour. But what is wind?
Continue reading Global Winds and the Coriolis Effect – The Ever Changing Atmospheric System
Welcome to Scotland’s Jurassic ParkWelcome to Jurassic Skye! While dinosaurs might be long dead and no threat to puny humans, the rich fossil record of the Scottish island of Skye – the “Misty Isle” – has provided palaeontologists with important clues to the lives of prehistoric predators and their preys. Continue reading Fantastic Beasts of the “Misty Isle” – Welcome to Jurassic Skye!
Scientifically Proven to be Your Cat’s JamA team of scientists have written music that they found most cats respond to a “little like sonic catnip”. They used tempos and melodies originating from purrs and suckling. Continue reading Music for Cats… – Guaranteed to be your Cat’s Jam!
A New Epoch has BegunThe term ‘Anthropocene’ has entered scientific literature as an expression of the fundamental environmental change caused to planet Earth by humankind, despite not being a formally defined geological unit within the geological time scale. The hunt is on for the “golden spike” – a marker for future researchers to point to in millions of years and identify as the geological start of the Anthropocene epoch. Continue reading Human versus Nature – The Golden Spike of the Anthropocene
A revolution in the treatment and understanding of clinical depression may be looming. And specialists are already talking about one of the strongest discoveries in psychiatry for the past two decades. For the 350 million people who suffer from the illness worldwide, this could potentially mean light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Continue reading Looking on the Bright Side of Clinical Depression
What is Your Poison of Choice?Be honest. We all have one. What’s your poison? Booze, tobacco, prescription drugs… or something a little more exotic? Cannabis is a controversial plant, regarded by many as a godsend. If Carlsberg made a ‘erb… Continue reading Panacea Nostrum – The Forensic Toxicology of Cannabis
Finding Gems in LondonThe Evelyn tables are the oldest known anatomical preparations in Europe – a manner of human herbarium – showcased at a scarcely visited location in the very heart of London. Continue reading The Evelyn Tables – Musings on Leoni d’Este’s Human Herbarium
Birds of a FeatherA new study shows that birds and humans ‘talk’ to each other, as they partner up to hunt for honey bees nests together in the forests of Mozambique.
Continue reading A Little Bird Told Me… – Man and the Honeyguide
Signals and PerceptionPrior to the discovery of nociceptors in 1906, scientists believed that animals were like mechanical devices that transformed the energy of sensory stimuli into motor responses. Pain is one of those stimulated reactions, but it is unlike other sensations. What is the purpose of pain? Continue reading Ouch!! #$@*!! – We Take a Quick Look at the Neuro-Physics of Pain
Meet LISA!Erm…No. Not Mona Lisa! (Rolls eyes.) Think again!! This is LISA – the Lisa Pathfinder satellite, the key element for a grand new project: a space-based gravitational observatory. Continue reading Hunting Ripples in the Fabric of Space-Time – The Trials and Tribulations of LISA
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